Inside Athletics

Mystic Nickname Originated in 1940

This information was located in the Mystician (school
newspaper) dated March 28, 1988.

Mystic Mascot Derived From 1940 Cartoon, By Irene Voth

It was 1940. For over a year, Jimmy Boutrous had been
arranging fund-raisers and soliciting the support of the students
and faculty of Bismarck’s junior college and the Bismarck
community. Now, the money had been raised and the
administration won over. George "Shaky" Schaumberg had
consented to be the coach. He would have no trouble filling
the roster with names of eager players. Only one thing more
was needed to give birth to the first basketball team of
BJC: a name.

"So we had a contest and the class voted to come up with the
name Mystics," remembers Ted Boutrous, Bismarck attorney and member
of BJC’s first graduating class. "We thought it had a
good sound and it had never been used in Bismarck."

Nickie Barbie, a retired Bismarck educator who was an original
Mystic recalls, "It (the Mystics) came out of a newspaper comic
strip. There was this guy … a wizard or magician or
something. Comic strips were just coming into fashion and we
were young and it appealed to us."

Side note: There has been a mascot to go along with the Mystic
nickname beginning about 1993. The evolution of the mascot is
shown at right.